Have writer's block? Hopefully this resource will help librarians identify publishing and presentation opportunities in library & information science, as well as other related fields. I will include calls for papers, presentations, participation, reviewers, and other relevant notices that I find on the web. If you find anything to be posted, please drop me a note. thanks -- Corey Seeman, University of Michigan(cseeman@umich.edu)

Saturday, September 30, 2006

ALCTS CCS Cataloging Norms Discussion Group is calling for speakers for its meeting at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Seattle on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007, from 1:30-3:30 pm. Presentation topics should be of current interest to catalogers, cataloging managers and administrators.

Possible areas of discussion include but are not limited to:* evolution, definition, and functions of the catalog and cataloging norms* perceptions on cataloging quality of original and copy catalogers, public services staff, and end-users* emerging concepts of "next generation catalog"* cataloging for "hybrid" and digital libraries* cataloging record and its elements in different contexts* RDA and FRBR* bibliographic control of electronic and media resources* authority control* training of professional/paraprofessional staff

Presentations should be approximately 15-20 minutes in length. Additionaltime will be allowed for questions and answers.

North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization (NASKO)Conference Venue: Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto,June 14-15, 2007

Two events in one place! An organizing conference for the North AmericanChapter of ISKO, and a paper session on the state of the art of KnowledgeOrganization research.

Call for Participation and Call for Position Papers

Call for Participation: KO, Classification Systems, and ControlledVocabularies Adjust to New Technologies and Service Areas-- What are YOUDoing? An Information Exchange Opportunity and Organizational Meeting forthe North American Chapter of the International Society for KnowledgeOrganization (ISKO)

The time is ripe for enhanced communication among Knowledge Organizationresearchers in North America. We are a diverse, yet committed, set ofresearchers interested in asking basic and applied questions on howknowledge is organized and how such organization can be improved throughresearch. As ISKO members we are also are interested in forming a NorthAmerican chapter in order to attain critical mass for KO researchers toshare research findings, mentor students and maintain continuousconversations across the large landmass of North America. What are yourneeds as a Knowledge Organization researcher? What can a North Americanchapter do for your research program? Your participation in planning for aNorth American chapter will serve to enrich the research infrastructure inKnowledge Organization.

Call for Position Papers: "Knowledge Organization Research in NorthAmerica: What have we done, what are we doing, and where do we go fromhere?"

North American thinkers have commented on a number of changes andinnovations in Knowledge Organization research. Beghtol, Mai, Smiraglia,and Svenonius have all noted a shift in knowledge organization researchstrategies and focus in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The taskof laying the groundwork for future work is imminent. Valuable approachesdemonstrated by current research are many and include but are not limitedto:- contextual and ecological inquiry,- comparative approaches to classification,- establishing theories of instantiation and works,- looking at the history and discourse of organization structures in orderto inform current theory and practice.

What then are the next steps? What are the salient questions? Somepossibilities include:

- Will social tagging and ontology engineering have impact on knowledgeorganization, or vice versa?- Will the economics and institutional application of informationorganization structures change in the next ten years?- Will Library of Congress cataloguing at current levels cease entirely?- Will the Library and Archives Canada merge archival and library workinto metadata work?- How will large-scale implementations and issues of economics affectknowledge organization research?- What role can legacy Knowledge Organization systems and strategy play inthe theoretical and practical development of current and futureinformation realities?- Finally, what epistemological innovations and insights will shape thenext stages of Knowledge Organization research?- Will the Pragmatists forever influence Knowledge Organization?- Will there be another Wittgenstein?- Will there be another Ranganathan?- What is the impact of Rorty on our work?- Who will be the next public intellectual from our area?

Research Papers: Proposals should include a title, and be no more than1500 words long. Proposals situated in the extant literature of knowledgeorganization will be given preference. Proposals may be submitted inEnglish or French.

Position Papers: Proposals should include a title, and be no more than1500 words long. Proposals with clearly articulated theoretical groundingand methodology, and those that report on completed or ongoing researchwill be given preference. Diverse perspectives and methodologies arewelcome. Proposals may be submitted in English or French.

Publication: All accepted papers will appear online. The mosthighly-ranked papers will, with permission of the authors, be published,in full, in a North American theme issue of Knowledge Organization.

Doctoral students are especially invited to submit proposals for theconference.

Deadline for proposals is January 31, 2007. Proposals, including thename(s) of the author(s), complete mailing and e-mail addresses, telephoneand fax numbers, should be sent electronically (Word or RTF) to KathrynLaBarre: klabarre@uiuc.edu. Proposals will be refereed by the ProgramCommittee. Authors will be notified of the committee’s decision no laterthan February 28, 2007. All presenters must register for the conference.Papers to appear as full text in the electronic proceedings must besubmitted no later than May 14, 2007.

The Education and Behavioral Sciences Section Research Committee is holding its first annual Research Poster Session and Discussion Forum during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. The forum seeks to provide beginning and established researchers an opportunity to present research in progress, and receive collaborative feedback on their work and recommendations for future publishing.

Attendees to the forum will find an arena for discussion and networking with their colleagues interested in research-related issues and trends in the profession.

The committee will use a blind review process. A subcommittee of five members will act as reviewers.

Proposal submission instructions

1. Proposals should be two pages.

2. The first page should include:· Date of submission· Name of applicant(s)· Institution(s)· Applicant address(es)· Phone number(s)· Email address(es)· Title of the proposal

3. The second page should include:· Title of the proposal· Statement of the research question· Research goals and objectives· Description of the methodology· Conclusions· Format· Double-spaced· 12 pt. font· One inch margins

Theme:Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Property:The Ethics of Cultural and Environmental Sovereignty and Stewardship

University of ArizonaMarch 23-25, 2007

The Information Ethics Roundtable will hold its Fifth Annual Meeting at the University of Arizona, March 23-25, 2007. Every year the roundtable brings together researchers from several different disciplines (e. g., philosophy, library and information science, communications, public administration, anthropology, law) to discuss the ethical issues surrounding access to information, information privacy, intellectual property, intellectual freedom, and censorship.

The theme of this year's meeting is Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Property. Possible topics include: the rights of indigenous peoples to control knowledge that they have discovered or created (e.g., traditional medicines, native symbols, songs, rituals); the rights of indigenous peoples to control information about themselves; the ethical dimensions of gathering information about and from indigenous peoples (e.g. through anthropological, biological, or historical research); the relevance of standard justifications for limiting information access, such as secrecy, privacy, and intellectual property, to questions of indigenous cultural property; the implications of environmental ethics in relation to questions of indigenous knowledge and cultural property; how control over physical artifacts of indigenous peoples can have an impact on the discovery and dissemination of knowledge and information; indigenous information stewardship and information professionals (e.g., librarians, archivists, museum directors).

Those wishing to present their research at this conference should submit an extended abstract of 1000-1200 words excluding notes and references and prepared for blind review. Abstracts should be in rtf or word document format and should be sent as an attachment to kmathies@email.arizona.edu. Deadline for abstracts is December 1, 2006. Authors will be informed whether their papers are accepted by January 1, 2006. For further information about the Roundtable, see our website at http://www.sir.arizona.edu/ier/ [FROM BEYOND THE JOB BLOG...Thanks]

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The ALCTS CCS Catalog Management Discussion Group is tentatively scheduled to meet at ALA Midwinter in Seattle on Saturday, January 20, at 1:30-3:30. Please consider submitting a proposal for presentation and discussion. I've included the charge to this Discussion Group below.

Charge: To discuss the various issues involved with cataloging, classification, and authority control after the initial cataloging has been performed. In this respect, catalog management is defined as the continuous upgrading and updating of a catalog, regardless of its format, be it card, microform, book or on-line. The group will provide a forum for exchanging information and discussing techniques, new developments, and problems in managing the bibliographic integrity of library catalogs.

Monday, September 25, 2006

The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) is now accepting proposals for its 2007 Research Paper Competition. The purpose of this award is to further stimulate the communication of research at ALISE annual meetings. Research papers concerning any aspect of library and information science are eligible. This competition is not limited to research regarding LIS education. Any research methodology is acceptable. Up to two winning papers may be selected; an honorarium of $2500 will be awarded to the author(s) of each paper. In cases of joint authorship, one honorarium will be awarded for the paper. At least one applicant in a group must be a personal member of ALISE as of the deadline date.

Only one research paper will be considered from each entrant; multiple entries by the same author will not be accepted. The same author may submit for both the Research Grant Award and the Research Papers Competition; however, the same work cannot be submitted for both categories.

A. Papers must represent completed research not previouslypublished. However, the manuscript may have been submitted and be in process for publication.B. Papers, including abstract and references, must not exceed 25double-spaced pages (6,000 words), should have one inch margins and be in 12 point font.C. Research papers completed in the pursuit of master's anddoctoral studies (e.g. theses, seminar papers, and dissertations) are not eligible for entry. Research utilizing data gathered by a master's or doctoral student is eligible unless the research report is taken directly from a paper submitted for degree requirements. Papers which are spin-offs of such research are eligible for entry.D. Papers generated as a result of a research grant or other sourceof funding are eligible for the competition.E. Two title pages must be sent. One with, and one without, authornames(s) and institution. Both title pages should carry the name of the competition for which the paper is being submitted.

JudgingThe papers will be judged by the Research Committee with the assistance of additional ALISE members in those cases where the research topic or methodology warrant. All reviewing is blind. Research papers will be judged on the following criteria:A. Significance of the research problem.B. Presentation of the relevant literature.C. Design of the study (i.e., appropriateness of methodology,selection of specific techniques and/or tests).D. Conduct of the study (i.e., application of methods of data collection).E. Analysis and presentation of the data (i.e., quality ofanalysis, logic of findings).F. Appropriateness of the conclusions.

Papers will be disqualified if they exhibit one or more of thefollowing:Lack of adherence to submission requirements Submission of paper for the wrong award Poor quality in the writing Poor organization of material

The committee reserves the right to select no winning paper if in its judgment none of the papers are considered satisfactory.

The winner(s) of the award are expected to present a summary of their paper at the 2007 ALISE annual meeting.Papers must be received no later than October 2, 2006. They should be emailed as an attachment in Word format to

The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) announces its first annual Educational Technology Research Symposium. This two day event will be held February 5-6, 2007 in Austin, Texas. The symposium will provide an opportunity for educational technology researchers to present formal papers in educational technology areas. The Symposium Web site is at http://www.tcea.org/symposium/.

The Call for Papers is now open. Please go to http://www.tcea.org/symposium/Papers.htm for full information on submitting a paper for consideration. Accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings book and on an accompanying CD. Selected papers may be invited to be published in the TechEdge, TCEA's quarterly journal. The deadline for submitting papers is October 6, 2006.

Note: The registration fee for the Symposium also entitles registrants to attend the TCEA Annual Convention and Exposition, Into the Next Dimension, February 7-9, 2007 at no extra cost. Nearly 10,000 educators will descend on Austin, Texas to learn about new technologies, sharpen their skills, and network during the convention.

Please forward this announcement to your friends and colleagues who might be interested in submitting a paper.

Want to help? If you are willing to volunteer to be a reviewer for conference paper submissions, please send me an e-mail at the address below. Full details will be sent to you.

I hope to see you at TCEA's Educational Technology Research Symposium.

The editors of TER are pleased to announce a new list of books available to qualified reviewers. Please rank your selections in decreasing order of preference and reviews will be assigned on a first-come/first-served basis. In about a week, the first round of assignments will be made and there may be a second round if any books remain unreviewed. Current available books are listed below.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

From Here to Ephemerality: Fugitive Sources in Libraries, Archives, and MuseumsBaltimore, MarylandTuesday, June 19th to Friday, June 22nd, 2007

Deadline: October 16, 2007

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Rare Books & Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), seeks proposals for short papers related to the theme of its 2007 Preconference, "From Here to Ephemerality: Fugitive Sources in Libraries, Archives, and Museums."

The preconference will address various aspects of the topic of ephemera in libraries, archives, and museums. Ephemera collections have traditionally been neglected by institutions and have been underused by scholars; they provide unique challenges in cataloging, preservation, and access. The preconference will explore these issues and uncover the value of building and using ephemera collections to their full potential. It will encompass: notions of ephemerality; the scholarly uses of ephemera; dealers' perspectives on ephemera; collecting and collectors of ephemera; and the care and management of ephemera collections in institutions. The term"ephemera" includes a broad range of materials and disciplines, making this preconference particularly attractive to a variety of potential attendees, including librarians, curators, archivists, printing historians, collectors, dealers, and scholars.

This is a call for short papers. Short papers are scholarly research papers that further examine aspects of the preconference theme. A variety of subjects might be explored in a short paper, for example:

-Conceptual definitions and considerations of ephemera-Electronic ephemera-Other "non-traditional" ephemera, including events such as performances-Ephemera from the perspective of printing/publishing history-Specific types of ephemera-Specific collections or collectors of ephemera-Ephemera relating to underrepresented groups and culturally diverse collections-The role of women and children in collecting ephemera-Ephemera and the study of history-Ephemera and the trade-Various aspects of the management of ephemera in institutions-Traditional neglect of ephemera by institutions-Ephemera as an aspect of hidden collections-The pedagogical uses of ephemera

Each paper selected will be allotted 20 minutes for presentation. Papers will be presented in small group sessions, and audience response will be encouraged.

Proposals should not exceed 250 words, and should be submitted by October 16, 2006 to Henry Raine, Chair, RBMS 2007 Preconference Program Planning Committee by e-mail at Raine@nyhistory.org or by post at The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. Proposals should include title of presentation, author's name and affiliation, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. Decisions and notification about proposals will be made by December 1, 2006.

Submissions are encouraged from all interested parties, including graduate students in relevant disciplines. Funding is not available from RBMS to support travel costs.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Please post to your chapter or division listserve this Call for Papers to be presented at Annual Conference in Denver 2007.

The Contributed Papers sessions allow our members to share their expertise, research interests, or practical applications with all our members. Their papers are posted on the SLA website where others may benefit from their research.

This is the official Call for Presenters for the Cataloging Track at EndUser 2007. Presentations related to the basic components of the cataloging process -- bibliographic, holdings, and item records, plus authority control -- as well as bulk import, cataloging of electronic resources, label creation, diacritics, Batchcat, withdrawals, bibliographic linking, innovative approaches to cataloging workflow, ARS module and cataloging, Voyager v.6.1 and OCLC Connexion, creative ways to solve cataloging problems, and any other aspect of cataloging. We all know there are tips and tricks waiting to be presented.

December 1, 2006 Submission deadline for abstracts for papers and postersFebruary 11, 2007 Final decisions for accepted papersFebruary 15, 2007 Final decisions for accepted postersMarch 15, 2007 Submission deadline for full papers

The Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference (EBLIP4) is an exciting international event that has emerged in response to the growing interest among all types of libraries in using the best available evidence to improve information practice. The conference on May 6-9, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina will be followed by two days of continuing education. The conference provides a forum for the presentation of high quality papers and posters as well as examples of how EBLIP is being implemented in library and information settings around the globe.

EBLIP4 invites submissions for contributed papers and posters including both original research and innovative applications of EBLIP in library and information management. Papers that deal with library support of evidence-based practice in other fields such as health, social work and public policy are also welcome.

Understanding why gas prices rise or fall, filtering war reports, reading campaign materials, listening to the stem cell debate, and following sports blogs are just some of our encounters with technical information in recent days. How much of that information is communication? How does technology modify the information?

Share your ideas and join us for the 28th meeting of the Southwest/Texas Popular and American Culture Associations Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.February 14-17, 2007Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque

Proposals for papers and panels on the intersection of technical communication and culture are welcome in areas such as the following:

-Ideology and ethics: who encodes these methods? who decodes them?-Pedagogical implications: how do we “teach” new methods and genres, or how do we apply older methods to current trends?-Technology and literacy: what definitions apply? who determines what qualifies as reading in our information age?-Collaboration, structure, and culture: how does the workplace affect these? how does popular culture (film, television, music, video games) represent these?-Philosophies and research methods: could IM be our newest tool for research?-Visual theory, design, usability, accessibility (especially of online environments)-Genres: websites, reports, television news and programs, manuals, forms, flyers

Please send a 200-word proposal, including proposal title, via email to the address below by November 15, 2006.

The mission of this conference is to publish and integrate scientific results and act catalytically to the fast developing culture of web communities. The conference invites original papers, review papers, technical reports and case studies on WWW in particular the emerging role of so-called WWW-Based Communities.

Domain: It is increasingly important for our culture to bring people together and to promote dynamics in professional organizations, mutual understanding, learning and harmony. Creating "virtual communities" is one major way to do this. The Web Based Communities 2007 conference aims at sharing and aggregating scientifically proven methods on how to organize and moderate WWW-based communities. These communities do not limit participants to particular locations - the international and multicultural dimension is a most challenging one. Good WWW communities undergo a continuous evolution and adapt to the changing world. The nature of these communities can be corporate, scientific, social or educational. Pragmatic questions which need to be addressed include: What software tools are the most adequate and how to use them? How to promote your community so that new members can find it? How to protect the members' privacy? How to moderate discussions and how to provide information that people can use? How to create and maintain a sense of trust and commitment among the members? In addition, sociology, education, communication and philosophy issues are addressed as the main disciplines reflected in building WWW-based communities, although critical theories on societies and post-modernism are also relevant starting points. New and imminent technologies will be discussed.

Objectives: The Web Based Communities 2007 Conference aims at bringing together new vital understanding of WWW communities and what new initiatives mean. Each new perspective is potentially a catalyst for finding new architectures. National and regional-oriented communities may soon be relegated to a subordinate position compared to interest-oriented communities. Multiculturalism, critical thinking, expressing aesthetic aspects of our identity, and finding sparring partners for sharpening our ideologies, are all processes that need the new communication infrastructures.

The targeted audience is scientists and members and moderators of WWW communities who feel responsible for optimizing its quality and effect.

* Conference background and goalsThe IADIS Applied Computing 2007 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within the applied computing area and related fields. This conference covers essentially technical aspects. The applied computing field is divided into more detailed areas (see below). However innovative contributes that don't fit into these areas will also be considered since they might be of benefit to conference attendees.

* Format of the ConferenceThe conference will comprise invited talks and oral presentations. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the form of a book. The best paper authors will be invited to publish extended versions of their papers in specific journals, and in the IADIS Journal on Computer Science and Information Systems.

* Types of submissionsFull and Short Papers, Posters/Demonstrations, Tutorials, Panels and Doctoral Consortium. All submissions are subject to a blind refereeing process.

* Topics related to Applied Computing are of interest. These include, but are not limited to the following areas:

* Important Dates:Submission: 9 October 2006Notification to Authors: 15 December 2006Final Camera-Ready Submission and Early Registration: Until 8 January 2007Late Registration: After 8 January 2007Conference: Salamanca, Spain, 17 to 20 February 2007

* Conference Location: The conference will be held in Salamanca, Spain.

Any aspect of Children's or Young Adult Literature (traditional or contemporary) and/or Children's/YA popular culture issues – television, comics, films, toys, music, gender role models, fashion – will be reviewed for acceptance. Please send queries, 250 word paper proposals, and 500 word panel proposals, including full contact info for all participants for review to area chair by deadline of November 15, 2006. Please include a short (100 word) bio listing previous and current research activities, but no full CVs needed. (Please see topic ideas and two special panel requests below.)

Interdisciplinary approaches and all scholarly fields are welcome. Also, as this is a popular culture conference, presentations that depart from traditional reading of papers are highly encouraged and welcomed. Presenters also need not have a university affiliation; we embrace all forms of experiential knowledge potential presenters might offer. Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals.

Please see the Conference web site for information on Graduate Student Paper Awards.

Possible topics of particular interest include (but are not limited to):

Boys' issues in Children's/Young Adult culture (books and visual media)Cultural and Multi-cultural issues in Children's and Young Adult culture (literature, tv, film, etc.)Children's Television Issues – Sesame Street, Disney Channel, other shows directed at childrenTelevision and the Young Adult Market (series aimed at 'tweens and teens)Series Book Collections Issues (in both Children and Young Adult markets)Girl/Boy Sleuth series – Nancy Drew and her girl/boy counterparts in the 21st CenturyVideo Games and Children's/Young Adult culture issuesToys and Children's culture

I'm especially interested in forming a panel or panels on cultural/multi-cultural representations (both positive and negative or problematic) in Children's and Young Adult cultural productions (literature, television, music, film, video games, toys). This includes the more traditional "cultural" representations (given our conference location) of Hispanic and Native American issues, but should also extend to African American and African, Asian, Arab and Indian, as well as religious cultures – Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and others. Are these images promoting more or less unity, do they exacerbate the divisions that seem so rampant, or are they working to bridge those chasms?

Another panel or panels I would like to form is one that looks at Boys' issues; generally, I get a majority of excellent papers dealing with girls' issues, and boys' issues get a bit of a short shrift. I'd like to see proposals dealing with issues like boys' friendships, father-son relationships, gender identification issues, "male culture" issues for boys, boy-girl friendships, traditional vs. non-traditional gender roles/expectations, the culture of violence and how it affects boys. The possibilities are endless. What's shaping our boys' understanding of what it means to be male (especially given the trend in adult marketing of the "macho" – be a "real" man stereotype and the highly sexualized marketing of women in advertising and much of regular television programming)

Any other topic related to Children's and Young Adult literature, culture, and the intersection of these items with popular culture are welcome.

CFP: Collectors and Collecting: Private Rare Books and Manuscripts Collections and their Role in Libraries

Conference to be held at Chawton House Library, Hampshire, UK, 19-20 July 2007. The event is jointly organised by Chawton House Library, the University of Southampton English Department, and Goucher College, Baltimore, MD.

NOTE: No deadline given...please email below contacts for more information.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

-the role of rare books and manuscripts collections within the context of the libraries where they are now accommodated-the way in which libraries manage an individual’s collection-the act and process of private collecting-the motivation of the individual collector-the book or manuscript as artifact in the context of private collections

Plenary speakers are Reg Carr (Director of University Library Services and Bodley's Librarian at the University of Oxford), Robert H. Jackson (Collector, author, and lecturer on literature, rare books, and collecting; founding member of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies), James Raven (Professor of History, University of Essex) and Bruce Whiteman (Head Librarian, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies, University of California - Los Angeles).

In 1966, anthropologist Mary Douglas published her groundbreaking study, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concept of Pollution and Taboo, asserting that "dirt" is a "universal theme across human societies." Douglas issued her book during a period of massive liberalization of censorship practices in English-speaking societies that led lawyer Charles Rembar to declare "the end of obscenity." Where Douglas saw a universal cultural theme, Rembar saw a concept that had lost its cultural significance. The proximity of these claims indicates a persistent paradox: while the category of obscenity would appear to be "universal," its meaning is so vague and variable that it is almost impossible to pin down in what this universality consists.

The opening of the 21st century is a felicitous time to interrogate the "universality" of obscenity in terms of the globalization of culture and postmodern skepticism in the human sciences. This symposium is intended to enable an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue that will analyze this notoriously vague yet apparently perennial concept in an historical and global context. Possible topics will include, but will not be limited to, the following: How do definitions of obscenity vary across cultures and historical periods? How do identity categories of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and disability inflect or inform issues of obscenity? What is the relation between verbal and visual instances of obscenity? To what degree is religion implicated in definitions of obscenity? How is obscenity inflected or informed by family structures and practices? How do issues of obscenity vary across institutional locations? In what ways are attacks on obscenity related to media ownership and the development of new media? How is obscenity related to cognate concepts such as indecency, pornography, and profanity?

The editors are accepting proposals for the Winter issue of Catalogue & Index, which will be themed 'CIG Today' and will aim to show the diversity of cataloguing, indexing, metadata and related roles available.

Suggested topics could include, but are not limited to:-a day in the life of a metadata editor / rare books cataloguer, etc.-the regrading of cataloguers in the academic sector-international standards vs local search requirements: the balancing act-the art and science of taxonomy design-networking: influencing through indexing-what they didn't teach me at library school-DDC, BLISS, LC: classification schemes I have known-why health librarians / law librarians, etc., need to bother with cataloguing-integrated catalogues: the sweat behind the search results

Ideally, we would like to represent all the major sectors of the LIS community: academic, commercial, public, and special. We would also be happy to hear from students, lecturers and paraprofessionals.

This issue will be used as a promotional tool at future events, so if accepted, your work will reach not only the existing readership of C&I, but a wide range of others interested in cataloguing, indexing and metadata.

In the first instance, please send your name, contact details and proposal (no more than 250 words) to catalogueandindex@btinternet.com by Friday 27 October. If accepted, the final submission date for articles will be Thursday 30 November 2006.

Anne Welsh, EditorCatalogue & Index: Periodical of the CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group

The Public Library Association (PLA) is now planning the 2008 PLA National Conference, which will be held in Minneapolis, March 25-29, 2008. The most important part of that planning is assembling the slate of preconferences and the 100+ concurrent program sessions that will be presented during the conference. The deadline for submitting all proposals is November 30, 2006.

The proposal process is completely electronic: only proposals submitted through this online process will be considered. The online forms are located Here. The online form is self explanatory but it will be helpful for you to review the list of proposal instructions that explain what you will need to provide on the proposal form. It is best to have as much information as possible before you begin entering your proposal. However, incomplete proposals can be saved and revised at any time until November 30, 2006. After this date, the online form will no longer be available for entering new proposals.

If you have any questions or need additional information, contact the PLA Office, 800/545-2433, ext. 5027. Program organizers will be notified of the status of his/her proposal beginning in February 2007.

The Public Library Association (PLA) is a division of the American Library Association. PLA’s core purpose is to strengthen public libraries and their contribution to the communities they serve and its mission is to enhance the development and effectiveness of public library staff and public library services.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

CFP: The Library Research Seminar IV, The Library in its Socio-Cultural Context:Issues for Research and Practice, taking place at the Univsity of Western Ontario on October 10-12 2007, has issued a call for papers.

-the intellectual contexts that inform library research and practice-the local, community contexts that shape the development and implementation of library programs and services-the policy issues and general social forces shaping libraries-the broad cultural trends affecting libraries-multi- or interdisciplinary perspectives on the everyday contexts of libraries affecting their collections, services, budgets, user groups, external relations etc.

Abstracts of 600-800 words, including references, are due by February 1, 2007 to the

Conference Chair:

Dr. Gloria LeckieFaculty of Information and Media StudiesThe University of Western Ontario240 North Campus BuildingLondon, ON N6A 5B7Canada

For the February 2007 issue of Against the Grain, the guest editors invite submissions examining metadata and its impact on the work of collections and technical services librarians.

Possible article topics include:- Case studies of large or small digitization initiatives:How was a project carried out? What made it successful? What problems arose? How was the work incorporated into the day-to-day operations? In retrospect, what could have been done differently?- Post-selection decisions: How do metadata specialists, working with collection "owners" and/or subject scholars, determine optimum schemas? How do they collaborate with different units within the library or with communities of practice (museums, archives and libraries) and discipline cultures?- Interoperability: What aspects of shareability of collections are important? How do you assure cross-collection interoperability now and into the future?- Preservation: What needs to be collected from the first scan? Are their ways to extract technical metadata easily? Where do you store the preservation metadata? What standard do you use to store metadata and where?- User perspectives: Have user needs been assessed? What are the reactions of patrons / the public to digitized projects? Are there feedback mechanisms, and what has been reported? Do you use any aspects of "Library 2.0"?

Articles on other aspects of metadata are also welcome.

Against the Grain is a partially refereed publication, and articles are usually 2000 -- 2500 words in length. Article proposals and / or abstracts of articles should be submitted by Friday, September 23, 2006. The deadline for submission of the articles themselves is Friday, November 11, 2006. If you are interested in submitting an article, please let meknow by return email. (pam.rebarcak@wmich.edu or sheila.bair@wmich.edu)

Should you desire more information or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the guest editors listed below.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The planning committee is open to presentations on all aspects of library acquisitions and collection management. Presenters are encouraged to engage the audience in discussion. Panel discussions are well received.

* The pre-eminent Western North America conference on acquisitions and collection development, entering its seventh year at Timberline Lodge.* A small, informal and stimulating gathering in a convivial and glorious Northwestern setting.* A three day conference focusing on the methods and madness of building and managing library collections.* See The Acquisitions Institute home page at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/aitl/ for more information.

WHAT TOPICS are we looking for?

* The planning committee is open to presentations on all aspects of library acquisitions and collection management. Presenters are encouraged to engage the audience in discussion. Panel discussions are well received. The planning committee may wish to bring individual proposals together to form panels. The committee is especially looking for submissions on the following topics:

TERI is organizing ICDL 2006 from 5-8 December 2006 in Association with TIFP, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India and UNESCO and in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Ministry of Culture and Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Govt. of India have also agreed in principle to associate with this conference. The theme of the conference is Digital Libraries: Information Management for Global Access and it will focus on creation, adoption, implementation and utilization of digital libraries (DL), e-learning and knowledge society. For detail information about the conference please visit the website www.teriin.org/events/icdl

TERI had earlier organized the first ICDL in the year 2004, which was inaugurated by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble President of India. The theme of the Conference was Digital Libraries: Knowledge Creation, Preservation, Access, and Management. The conference received an overwhelming response and more than 750 delegates including 105 foreign delegates from 36 countries attended the conference.

You are invited to attend and register to the 2nd International Conference on Digital Libraries, to be held in New Delhi, India 5-8 December, 2006. This conference is going to be a very high standard. We have invited many world renowned digital library experts. About 50 renowned and experienced speakers from India and abroad has already accepted to share their experiences. The papers we have received so far are all cutting edge researches and practical experiences. We believe you and your colleagues will be benefited tremendously from this conference. We encourage you and your colleagues and students to attend and share experiences with others in the conference.

Registration Information :For details about the conference registration fee for all presenters and participants and other registration information, please refer to the conference website (www.teriin.org/events/icdl)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Following a well-established tradition, Access 2006 invites you to submit project suggestions for Hackfest 2006, to be held this year in Ottawa, Ontario, on October 11.

Hackfest projects can be about nearly anything related to libraries and online information. Is there some mashup you want to see that would be useful in libraries? Or a new feature in your old system, or some whole new idealized app that just doesn't exist anywhere yet? Some new technical something you maybe can't build yourself but you're sure "somebody should"?

Perfect! Tell us about it!

Not every suggestion is used ... and please keep in mind that we're together for only one short day ... but many are, with the results made public during the conference. Sometimes projects even take on a life of their own after Hackfest! But you are under no continuing obligation -- just send your idea and we'll run with it.

Even if you are not planning to attend Access and Hackfest, submit your great idea! Past projects have come from attendees and non-attendees, both.

Monday, September 11, 2006

We are pleased to announce the Encyclopedia of North American Sport, edited by Steven A. Riess, Melvin L. Adelman, and Patricia Vertinsky which will be published by M.E. Sharpe.

The encyclopedia will include articles on every aspect of North American sport: history, politics, economics, culture, and sociology. There will be entries on individuals, places, ideas, events, institutions, and general themes. Articles will vary in length from 1,000-5,000 words for entries on specific topics (depending on significance) and 5,000 words for historical essays. North American Sport will also include a number of ancillary features, including glossary and bibliography.

We are looking for possible contributors. Entries should be written with an undergraduate reader in mind (about the level of a college survey text). Articles should be readable, well-organized, rich in factual specificity, balanced, and cover their topics as thoroughly as possible within word count parameters. Finally, the emphasis should be on history, not historiography.

If you are interested in participating in this exciting project, send a CV and brief writing sample plus a list of the article(s) you would like to write. For a list of entries, see below. Note: All articles crossed out are already assigned. We have invited contributors for some of the other topics, and they are still pending.

NOTE: PLEASE CONTACT JAMIE RIESS, EDITORAL ASSISTANT (jnriess@gmail.com) FOR THE FULL LIST OF AVAILABLE ENTRIES.

COMPENSATION AND DEADLINES

COMPENSATION FOR CONTRIBUTING TO NORTH AMERICAN SPORT:

1000 word articles: $15

1500 word articles: $20

2500 word articles: $35

4000 word articles: $50

5000 word articles: $60

For assignments of 4,000 words, you may substitute a copy of the encyclopedia in lieu of the honorarium. Please check off the appropriate box on the contract we will send you. For assignments over 4,000 words, you may substitute a book for the first 4,000 words and receive $7.50 for every 500 words thereafter. Again, please check appropriate box on the contract.

DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES:

Assignments of 1,000 words: three months from receiving contract

Assignments of more than 1,000, but less than 4,000: four months from receiving contract.

Assignments of more than 4,000 words: six months from receiving contract.

The fifteenth annual conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP) will be held in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota on July 11-15, 2007. SHARP is the leading international association for historians of print culture, enlisting more than 1,200 scholars world-wide; its members study "the creation, dissemination, and reception of script and print, including newspapers, periodicals, and ephemera," as well as the history of books. The forthcoming conference is organized in cooperation with the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota; University of Minnesota Libraries; Minneapolis Public Library; Minnesota Historical Society, and Minnesota Center for Book Arts -- a part of Open Book.

The conference theme, "Open the Book, Open the Mind," will highlight how books develop and extend minds and cultures, and also how they are opened to new media and new purposes. However, individual papers or sessions may address any aspect of book history and print or manuscript culture.

The conference organizers invite proposals for individual presentations, and also for complete panels of three presentations on a unifying topic.As is the SHARP custom, each session of 90 minutes will feature three papers of up to 20 minutes, providing time for substantive discussion with members of the audience. Proposals should be submitted via the online conference website by November 30, 2006: please go to http://purl.oclc.org/NET/SHARP2007proposals and follow the directions provided there.

Each individual proposal should contain a title, an abstract of no more than 300 words, and brief biographical information about the author or co-authors. Session proposals should explain the theme and goals, as well as include the three individual abstracts.

In keeping with the theme of the conference, a "pre-conference" of practical workshops and a plenary session devoted to book arts and artists' books will be held at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts at Open Book, near the University of Minnesota campus, on Tuesday, July 10, 2007. Details about that pre-conference and about the main conference program, registration, and housing arrangements will be made available early in 2007 at the general conference web site, http://www.cce.umn.edu/conferences/sharp. Much information about SHARP2007 and its location, including hotel-reservation information, is already available there.

Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal to be published twice each year by McFarland. Offering the best in original research and analysis, the journal will promote the study of baseball's early history, from its protoball roots to 1920, and its rise to prominence within American popular culture.

Call for Submissions: Base Ball welcomes article submissions on all aspects of the early game, including major and minor league play, non-league baseball of all types, origins, business of baseball, biography, art, and literature.

Articles should be prepared according the Chicago Manual of Style and should exceed 2,500 words in length, exclusive of the endnotes and an abstract.

Two hard copies of the double-spaced manuscript or an email attachment in Microsoft Word are required. Electronic submissions are encouraged.

Editorial decisions will be sent out within 60 days of manuscript receipt.

Contributors are invited for the forthcoming edited collection of essays Boundaries: Critical, Creative and Interdisciplinary methods of Making, Breaking, and Negotiating Boundaries*

The papers presented at the recent 'Boundaries: Critical and Creative' Postgraduate Conference at Loughborough University in June 2006 highlighted the quality of academic research being done which interrogates, acknowledges and challenges boundaries in critical and creative literature. This collection is in part inspired by and, in part, a response to the success of the conference and the wide range of high-quality academic discussion that came from it.

This book has been contracted by Cambridge Scholars press and the anticipated publication date will be autumn 2007. Successful contributors will be expected to submit a 6000-8000 word article (excluding notes) that addresses the ways in which critical and/or creative boundaries apply to their research.

If you would like your paper to be considered for inclusion, please send an email indicating your interest in this project to both J.K.Ramone@lboro.ac.uk and G.L.Twitchen@lboro.ac.uk and we will forward a copy of the submission guidelines. Completed essays should arrive to us no later than November 15th 2006. Accepted contributors will be notified within one calendar month.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

CFP: Through the Wardrobe: Essays on C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia

Call for PapersDeadline: November 15, 2006

We are looking for essays dealing with various aesthetic, historical, and philosophical aspects of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia for our proposed edited anthology, Through the Wardrobe: Essays on C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. While we are looking for scholarly essays, our book is designed to appeal to both scholars and fans of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia novels, and we are thus hoping for intelligent but clear and accessible writing. Given the perennial interest inchildren’s fantasy fiction including Lewis’s series, the seeming rise of interest in fantasy following the enormous success of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the interesting cultural phenomenon of C. S. Lewis’s variable reputation among Christian communities in theUnited States, the curious differences between the reception of Lewis and the reception of Rowling, pertinent questions concerning the psychological impact on children of fantasy fiction, and the recent release of the enormously popular Disney/Walden film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we are confident that a collection of scholarly essays focused on Lewis’s children’s series will prove to be of broad interest; in fact, due to the success ofour recent Through the Wardrobe conference, we have already received indications of interest from scholarly publishers. Potential essay topics might include literary analysis of Lewis’s series in connection to its historical, philosophical, and literary antecedents or analysis making use of critical lenses associated with cultural studies. The collection might also include analyses of Lewis’s fantasy in relation to the current popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien’s and J. K. Rowling’s works, or other pertinent fantasy.

Potential topics include

The connection of Lewis’s Narnia books to other works of fantasy, including works by Tolkien and RowlingIssues of adaptation in the translation of Narnian Fiction into a Spectacle of FilmLewis’s Ideas of Fantasy, Story, and MythThe impact of Lewis’s Christianity on the novelsPsychological Issues Involved in Reading the Novels, including the impact of reading fantasy on childrenPhilosophical, Political, and Ethical Issues, including the depiction of evil or the issues of colonialism, imperialism, sexism, and racismNarnia seen through the lens of ethnic or gender studies, religious studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, folklore, etc.The impact of Lewis’s Friendships with Tolkien and the Inklings on the novelsNarnian Predecessors and Narnian InfluencesNarnia and Genre ConsiderationsNarnia and Audience ExpectationsNarnia and Educational TheoryNarnia in the Context of Children's LiteratureNarnia and the varied responses and controversies surrounding the books

Proposals of 500-750 words or full essays of approximately 4,000- 5,000 words should be accompanied by a brief bio. Proposals must be received via email by November 15, 2006 by Craig Svonkin at svonkco@netzero.com. Questions are welcome.

World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) call for papers - Best practice in library services for print disabled children

The 73rd IFLA Annual Conference and Council will be held August 19-23 2007 in Durban, South Africa. An abstract of a proposed paper is required by 31 October 2006. Subject: Best practice in library services for print disabled children.

IFLA's Libraries for the Blind and Libraries for Children and Young Adults Sections invite you to submit a short proposal for a presentation on this theme for their joint programme at WLIC 2007. In the two hour programme, IFLA aims to have four or five presentations covering policy and best practice for curriculum and leisure services to children ranging in age from babies to young adults.

The audience is likely to include librarians from children's libraries, school libraries, public libraries, and specialist libraries for print disabled children.

IFLA is particularly interested in presentations on the following topics although other topics will also be considered:

-Tactile books as an aid to literacy for babies and toddlers-Inclusive library activities, e.g. story telling-Accessible online services for learning-Demonstrations of innovative products and services

IFLA hopes to have an equal mix of presentations from Africa and from other parts of the world. The delivery of each presentation should last 20-25 minutes although the written version of the presentation may be longer (at least 3 single spaced pages to 20 pages maximum). Full papers will be due by 15 April 2007 to allow time for review of papers and preparation of translations. Presentations, as well as papers, may be delivered in any official IFLA language.

Please send an abstract of your proposed paper (maximum 400 words), full contact details and a short CV to Helen Brazier, Secretary, IFLA Libraries for the Blind Section at helen.brazier@nlbuk.org by 31 October 2006. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of the review panel by January 2007.

Regrettably IFLA's Sections do not have funds available to pay for speakers' expenses, although there may be limited funding available through other IFLA channels, especially for people from developing countries.

In conjunction with this programme, IFLA wishes to encourage proposals on the same theme for the conference poster sessions.

The 2007 North Carolina Serials Conference Program Planning Committee invites proposals and suggestions for presentations on any aspect of the serials industry or serials management undergoing transition (which is just about every aspect). The Committee welcomes participation from all members of the serials profession including publishers, vendors, and systems developers, in addition to faculty and library staff in all types of libraries. Students seeking a forum to share findings from serials-related research are also encouraged to submit proposals. The Committee hopes to continue previous successes by assembling a program that both shares and inspires creativity, collaboration, and new ways of thinking.

Submit proposals by e-mail in a document attachment to Beth Bernhardt at brbernha@uncg.edu.

Deadline for submission is October 20, 2006.

When submitting a proposal, please include the following information.

1. Name(s)2. Mailing Address3. Telephone number, fax number, and email address(es)4. Short (50 words or less) biographical description about proposed speakers5. Proposed title6. A 200-300 word abstract, which clearly states the proposal topic, its relationship to serials, and its relevance for conference attendees7. Estimate of time required to present topic

The Program Planning Committee will review all submitted proposals for their content, timeliness, relevance to the current serials environment, and fit with the overall Conference content. The Committee reserves the right to refocus or combine proposals as needed to reach a diverse audience and to maximize use of program time slots.

Pervasive 2007, the Fifth International Conference on Pervasive Computing, will be held May 13-16, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The annual conference provides a premier forum in which to present research results in all areas related to the design, implementation, application and evaluation of pervasive computing as it integrates into our lives. Building on the success of previous conferences in this series held in Zurich (August 2002), in Linz/Vienna (April 2004), in Munich (May 2005) and in Dublin (May 2006), Pervasive 2007 will include a highly selective single-track program for technical papers, accompanied by posters, videos, demonstrations, workshops, a doctoral colloquium, invited tutorials, and an invited plenary speaker.

For Pervasive 2007, we are soliciting high quality technical papers that describe original, unpublished research on pervasive computing. Submissions should report concrete, significant, and transferable results that help advance the state of the art in pervasive computing, including but not limited to the following topics:

* New technologies and devices for pervasive computing* New applications of pervasive computing technologies* New interfaces and modes of interactions between people and pervasive computing devices, applications or environments* New tools, infrastructures, architectures and techniques for designing, implementing & deploying pervasive computing applications* Evaluations and evaluation methods, for assessing the impact of pervasive computing devices, applications or environments* Privacy, security, trust & social issues and implications of pervasive computing

All papers will be peer-reviewed by members of the Pervasive 2007 program committee and by additional expert reviewers from relevant research communities. Pervasive 2007 requires that submissions have not been published previously and that papers submitted are not under simultaneous review for any other conference, journal or other publication.

Paper submissions for Pervasive 2007 must be in Adobe PDF format and should conform to the Springer-Verlag LNCS style. We solicit papers of up to 15 pages. All paper submissions will be treated as full papers but it is important that their length is appropriate for their content. Accepted papers will be allowed to submit revised versions up to 18 pages in their camera ready copy.

Paper submissions must be anonymized to facilitate blind review. Authors are encouraged to take care throughout the entire document to minimize references that may reveal the identity of the authors or their institutions. Relevant references to an author's previous research should not be suppressed but instead referenced in a neutral way.

All paper submissions will be handled electronically by the EDAS system (http://edas.info). Note that submission is a two-stage process - authors need to register their paper first and then submit the final manuscript.Submissions must be in Adobe PDF format and conform to the guidelines specified here. Authors without EDAS user names will be required to register with the system.

The Pervasive 2007 Workshop Co-Chairs and Organizing Committee invite proposals for the workshop program of the 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing. Workshops provide a forum for people to discuss areas of special interest within pervasive computing with like-minded researchers and practitioners. Workshops afford the participants the opportunity to examine an area with a selected focus in an open environment for the free exchange of views. The day-long workshops will be held prior to the main conference on Sunday May 13, 2007.

Pre-Proposal Submission Inquiries:Contact either of the workshop co-chair's Anind Dey or Gillian Hayes if you would like to discuss a workshop proposal (email: workshops-chairs@pervasive07.org)

We solicit workshops in all areas related to Pervasive Computing. In particular we would like to encourage workshops focused on new and emerging research directions, novel and highly innovative themes, real-world topics including industrial and medical issues, system or interaction topics and interdisciplinary themes. The workshop proposal should be a maximum of 3 pages.

Each workshop will have a dedicated space near the posters of late breaking results to present the outcomes, discussion, and/or recommendations from the workshop. The conference management team will also provide facilities for printing large format posters for those workshop organizers who are interested in presenting information that way. Workshop organizers and attendees will be encouraged to staff this dedicated area during certain breaks to engage in discussions with other Pervasive 2007 delegates not in attendance at individual workshops.

Workshop proposals should include:

* Name of workshop and proposed URL of site to host CFP, program etc.* Theme of the workshop and topics of interest and how these relate to the overall conference* Names, affiliations, and research interest of the organizers* Who do you expect to attend the workshop?* How do you plan to attract submissions and/or participants?* Number of participants that is expected (a range is appropriate)?* What is the expected outcome of the workshop?* What, if any, accommodations and supplies do you require other than a projector, pens and notepads for each participant, an easel with large paper and markers, and a room and chairs large enough for your participants?* How do you plan to organize the workshop (participant selection, detailed timeline, type of contributions)?* How do you plan to run the workshop? What types of activities will you have?* What would you expect to be your contribution to the rest of the Pervasive 2007 audience not in attendance at the workshop? And how do you plan to provide this?

Workshop Organization:We encourage having an international team of organizers for a workshop who are from different institutions. We will aim for a balanced workshop program trying to avoid overlapping themes. Organizers are expected to be active themselves in the field in which they propose a workshop. Organizers are required to attend those workshops they are organizing. Any change to the workshop organization team must be submitted in writing at least two weeks prior to the position paper deadline for individual workshops (January 12, 2007). No changes to the workshop organization team can be made after this date to ensure that potential participants submitting position papers to workshops are aware of the final organization team.Please feel free to discuss ideas for a workshop proposal by email with the workshop chairs prior to submission.

Pervasive 2007 Workshops are a complementary forum to the main conference, encouraging the presentation and discussion of work in progress and facilitating a dialogue on emerging topics in small groups. Workshop sessions will provide inspiring and influencing discussion on a variety of pervasive computing topics.

Workshop registration will be at a reduced price for Pervasive 2007 participants.

Now that APSA is over, we can start planning for the next round of conferences :-) I have been asked to head MPSA^Rs section on Information Technology & Politics, and I ask you to consider submitting a proposal ato this section.

The section welcomes any proposal that contributes to our understanding of the impact of technology on politics and policy (or vice-versa). We also welcome proposals that apply or evaluate technology in innovative ways as an instrument for teaching, data collection and dissemination, or statistical/information visualization and analysis We welcome all types of proposals, for papers, panels, roundtables, poster-sessions, chairs, and discussants. (Proposals by faculty to discuss or chair panels are always*more* than welcome :-).

PS -- For those unfamiliar with MPSA, here is more information on the conference:

The MPSA holds one of the largest political science conferences, with around 4,000 presenters from across the United States and around the world. The MPSA National Annual Conference is held in Chicago, in the historic Palmer House Hotel. In 2007, the Conference will be held from April 12-15.

The deadline for submissions of proposals and ideas is October 6, 2006.

The 2007 NASIG Conference will be held on the banks of the Ohio River, at the historic Galt House Hotel (www.galthouse.com). Louisville, home of the legendary Louisville Slugger and the Kentucky Derby, is known for its riverfront parks, authentic bourbon, and warm Southern hospitality.

The theme of the 2007 conference is "Place Your Bet in Kentucky: The Serials Gamble." NASIG's Program Planning Committee (PPC) invites proposals and ideas for programs that address the theme of taking risks in the serials world. Are there any safe bets for serialists? What new opportunities and challenges are worth the risk?

The deadline for submissions of proposals and ideas is October 6, 2006.

SESSION TYPES

PRE-CONFERENCES are in-depth programs that focus on practical aspects of our work and the skills we need on a daily basis. In general, these programs are several hours in duration, have limited attendance, and may include hands-on training.

VISION sessions are offered at no-conflict times to allow all conference attendees to participate. These programs generally deal with the larger universe of ideas and issues that may influence the serials world.

STRATEGY sessions generally deal with all or, at least, several segments of the serials world including, but not limited to, publishers, vendors, service providers, and librarians. These sessions are usually 90 minutes long and include time for questions from the audience.

TACTICS Sessions are designed to address day-to-day issues and generally deal with one or two practical aspects of the serials world. These sessions are usually 60 minutes long and include time for questions from the audience.

Attendees at previous NASIG conferences have expressed an interest in the topics listed below. We hope these ideas inspire you to develop a program!

o Risk taking (how far can you go, balancing responsibility and innovation)o What do new serialists need to know?o Innovation: how to get good ideas off the groundo What do library users think about our services? What do they really want?o Impact of national trends on local decisions (e.g., cataloging e-journals)o Project Transfer (standards for transferring journals between publishers)o Professional organizations in the serials world; how to get involvedo Metadata - MODS implementation (XML schema for cataloging)o COinS (ContextObjects in Spans) applicationso Serialists working effectively with public service librarianso Conflict resolution in the workplaceo Career advancement: how do technical services librarians move into leadership positionso Practical aspects of e-resource management: licensing, usage statistics, etc.o Staff management (how to hire great people; how to manage your boss; how to organize staff and projects, etc.)

Please keep in mind the following:o The Program Planning Committee will review all submitted proposals for their content, timeliness, and relevance to the conference theme and reserves the right to combine, blend, or refocus proposals to maximize their relevance and to avoid duplication. In addition, PPCwill treat all submissions as suggestions and guideposts.

o Time management issues and reimbursement guidelines generally limit each session to two speakers.

o Proposals may be suggested as one type of session and/or format and ultimately be accepted as any one of the other types of sessions or formats; this decision is the purview of the Program Planning Committee.

o Vision and Strategy speakers are required to produce a written paper for the conference proceedings. Because NASIG publishes its conference proceedings, content needs to be unique for copyright purposes. ALL presentations must be original and not previouslypresented at other conferences.